He studied languages at Trinity College Dublin, until he became an artist in residence at the Kilkenny Design Centre in 1966. He worked as a teacher of Art, English, Irish and French from 1943 to 1964 at St Columba's College, Dublin. He initially attended night class at the NCAD and studied briefly in 1948–1949 under Henry Moore.
He originally concentrated on small wood carvings and his early commissions were mostly for Roman Catholic churches. Throughout his career, Oisín displayed a spec
ial interest in portraying horses in various contexts. One of his best-known public works is his large ‘Chariot of Life’ at the Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin, which portrays a charioteer driving his two-horse chariot through the flames. On a much smaller scale, he has represented horses racing towards the finishing post in a bronze piece, as well as a delightful wood-carving of a single horse and jockey at full gallop.
Another major public commission was his Children of Lir bronze which is on display outside the Taoiseach's Office in Government Buildings, Dublin. The maquette was the model for the large-scale bronze of the Children of Lir, which is the centrepiece of the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, a space which was designed by the Dublin City Architect, Daithí Hanly. More public commissions followed, including the statue of James Larkin on Dublin's O'Connell Street.
Read more
